Hopkins Public Schools: Update Regarding School Start Times For 2022-23

Press release from Hopkins Public Schools:

February 15, 2022

As we communicated in November, starting next school year (2022-23) Hopkins will adjust school start times such that elementary schools start earlier and secondary schools start later. The purpose of this communication is to update you on where we are in this process and to provide helpful information as you plan for next year.

It’s important to know the information we are sharing is not yet final. We expect to have a final decision made at the end of February. We will provide specific details at that time. These are our current projections:

• We are conducting a feasibility study with our transportation department to explore whether we will have each elementary school start at a single consistent time or if we will have a model like our current model wherein the elementary schools start at two different times.
• We anticipate the elementary start time to be no earlier than 7:30 a.m. and the earliest end time to be between 2:00 p.m. or 2:30 p.m.
• Our earliest bus stop pickup will be as close to 7 a.m. as possible.
• We anticipate that our grades 7-12 schools will start around 8:50 a.m. and will end around 3:30 p.m.
• Hopkins VirtualEDU online school will remain 8 a.m.-2:40 p.m.

Before and After School Care

Our Kids & Company staff are working hard to provide child care programming that works for all of our families. With the earlier end times in elementary, we expect that more families will need after-school care. Kids & Company is exploring a needs assessment regarding morning school care choice, fees, and tiered rates. Elementary families can expect a child care survey next week.

Preschool Program Times

Our preschool programs are impacted by elementary school start times because they operate at the schools and use bussing. Therefore, we plan to align preschool hours with the school hours. The preschool registration process will open after the elementary start times are finalized.

2023-24 Calendar

A few families have asked when they can expect the 2023-24 calendar. Because that is the year our system will transition 6th-graders to middle school, and 9th graders to our high school, we don’t expect to have this calendar ready until fall of 2022 as many of the calendar details will be determined by decisions that will be made within the next 9 months.

You can expect to hear back from us with the finalized information at the end of February. Until then, we thank you for your patience as we work to create the best solutions possible for you and your family.

This press release was produced by Hopkins Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.